


Reunion

by Duke157



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Badass Arya, Before Season 7, Comedy, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Post Season 6, Reunions, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-09
Updated: 2017-11-14
Packaged: 2019-01-31 03:36:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12673605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duke157/pseuds/Duke157
Summary: Post-Season 6. Before Season 7. SPOILER ALERT. Arya is one of my favorite characters and her existence is almost completely a secret. So I wanted to see how the reveal to certain characters would go, now that she's back in Westeros. No romantic pairings whatsoever with men, Implied possible femslash in the future





	1. Hot Pie & The Hound

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Game of Thrones or any of George RR Martin' or TV series' characters. Just my story.

Arya had never believed that she would be here once again, the same tavern where she lost her friend to Joffrey and his tomfoolery, the place where she met her travelling companion, for a period of time at least. Almost all of her memories of the place were connected to the Hound, save for Hot Pie of course. This would be the first time she crossed this tavern without him, but she knew these thoughts were stupid, he is dead. She had left him to die outside the Eyrie, with no food or water and in a place where help was scarce. Abandoning such thoughts, she pushed open the door to the tavern and walked right over to the innkeeper.

She was currently in disguise as a travelling peasant from the Eyrie, visiting her uncle in King's Landing. The disguise was necessary as too many people recognised her in these parts, and that was the last thing she needed on her path of revenge south to King's Landing. A path which recently restarted with Walder Frey and his sons at Riverrun.

Walking past the tavern doors, she silently made her way to the back and asked the nice old lady at the kitchen doors for bread in the shape of a Direwolf. The lady seemed perplexed at her odd request but eventually nodded and charged her for the bread.

"Hot Pie… make 'ne of those wolf breads 'gain." Arya chose not to hold back her smile at that.

Hot Pie came out running from the kitchen, or more like crashing out, the old lady chastised him for knocking over a plate of chicken. His smile instantly diminished at the sight of someone different than who he expected.

Arya took his hand and led him out through the back of the tavern and removed her mask. The look on Hot Pie's face would be something she would cherish for a very long time. He looked confused, shocked, relieved, happy, and horrified, in that order, all in a span of under a minute. Horrified at the dead corpse face mask in her hand, the flesh inside visible through the eye and neck holes.

After they spent a few minutes catching up, Arya put her mask back on saying that she wanted the bread and she has to leave soon. They hugged for a few seconds before he walked into the kitchen and she, the mess.

The first thing she noticed was the obvious increase in the population of the mess, not the obvious increase, it was about noon and the locals do come in here for food for lunch. No, it was the increase in the number of people she recognised, the number of people who would have recognised her, had it not been for the disguise. She almost gasped and pointed at them, managing to hold back at the very last second. It didn't surprise her that the brotherhood was here, they lived around these parts, they were the ones who she didn't need to get recognised by, but it was who they were with, who was with them, that surprised her. And not even by the fact that he was with them, but just by the fact that he was there…

She knew she had to leave soon, the importance of time firmly imprinted in her mind from her travels, the Red Wedding and her training to become No One. But she knew she couldn't leave without talking to him first, but not in front of the brotherhood.

So she decided to show him something he'd identify but not the others, her sword, Needle. She took it out of her bag, and placed it outside, next to her pack of food which also had the bread from Hot Pie, and then she placed the bag next to her feet and stood near the table across from the man. It took just a few seconds before he noticed, she knew she could trust his observation skills. He may not be smart but he was good at observing things, especially when it came to swords. Then she walked out of the establishment, making sure that he was following her. She took the path towards King's Landing, the Hound with his giant steps quickly catching up to her little ones. Making sure she was in a secluded place, she diverted from the road and into a clearing in the woods where she finally let herself get caught by the giant.

"LET GO OF ME!"

"WHERE DID YE' GET THAT SWORD, GIRL?"

Turning back to him, she noticed the rags he was wearing. A white shirt with a brown jacket and green pants, none of the armour he had on before. She also noticed the different boots on both feet.

"From my brother."

"DON'T LIE TO ME, GIRL…"

"I'm not LYING… I got this sword from my brother in Winterfell."

"DON'T FUCKING LIE!"

"Or what? You'll kill me, like you did to my friend… or those men in the tavern when you got me back this sword from Polliver… or will it be silent like that farmer you killed for food?"

Clegane was naturally taken aback by her answers, they were too consistent with his memories of Arya, but she couldn't be Arya… nobody's face changes that much in such a short time. Unbeknownst to him, he had said this out loud. She chose this as the perfect opportunity to reveal herself, and pulled off her mask without even turning her face away, to leave him completely dumbfounded.

"Close your mouth, you don't want to eat bugs for lunch, do you?"

"How the fuck did ye'…"

"How did you come back from the dead?"

"A countryman found me… E' was building some shit shrine for some fucking god... I repaid him by trying to build the shrine."

"I went to Braavos and became a faceless person. After I left you, I rode over to a town by coast called Gulltown. A man with a ship was waiting there, ready to set sail for Braavos. I offered him a special coin and he took me to the House of Black and White in Braavos."

"Where did ye' get this fucking special coin?"

"I told you that I escaped from Harrenhal. I did that with help from a man I saved a while before that. He was already a faceless man who was imprisoned and I helped him escape from a burning cage. That's also where I helped that Rouge idiot we killed back then. He gave me the coin and told me to find him if I ever come to Braavos, so I did. I trained there until recently and now I'm back to finish the names on my list."

"How many more on that shitty little list of yours?"

"I just killed Walder Frey and his sons and the-"

"Ye' killed that old Frey bastard… How?"

"Slit his throat… but before that I made him eat a pie carved out of his sons… He bit right on the thumb of one of them, hard to tell which one though, I've only known them for an hour or so…"

The Hound stood there staring at her describe how she carved the boys and how she was sad the old man didn't bite into something other than a finger while listing all the parts she added to it, needless to say, completely dumbfounded and in awe of the girl. At one point she stopped and turned back to him.

"What about you, what brought you to the brotherhood? I seem to recall you hating them."

"The countryman who saved my life was killed by some bloody fuckers of the brotherhood who went bad, I only joined them to kill those three… Just went with them after that."

They talked for a while, sharing even more stories of their recent pasts and their plans for the near future, before finally deciding to part ways. Arya continued down the road to King's Landing, back in her disguise again...

"Cersei Lannister, you're next."


	2. Sansa

It has been a few weeks since the great civil war ended and Arya was happy with how it ended. She couldn't kill Cersei off her list, but she had the pleasure of flattening The Mountain along with help from the Sand girl from Dorne. Quite the irony his death was, the strongest man in Westeros brought to his knees by two little girls who knew how to fight, and he couldn't even touch the girls. The fight ended with Arya burying her jack-knife in the side of his bulky throat while Tyene Sand made lethal toxic cuts to his chest, before they pushed him off of the side of the Red Keep to crash into the rocks below.

After the fight she sprinted down to the Throne Room in search of the next person on her list, Cersei Lannister. Tyene followed her but in search of someone else, her sisters. They reached the Throne Room just in time to see Jaime Lannister push a sword through her chest as she screamed  _Burn Them All!_ Arya recognised the words from the stories, the last words of the Mad King before he was killed in the same manner, the same place and by the same person, Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer and now Queenslayer. Cersei had turned into the Mad Queen. He held her for a few more seconds with tears in his eyes, before grabbing a dagger cutting his own throat out. All of this happened just moments before Queen Daenerys burst into the room followed by a few of the Unsullied and The Imp.

Arya felt a little sad that the sword in Cersei's chest wasn't the Needle and Jaime wasn't her, but instantly felt better when she realised the irony of the situation and its implications of Cersei as The Mad Queen. She just felt happy she hadn't missed it this time. While the Imp mourned his brother, Daenerys asked questions about the scene, questions Arya answered with a bright smile on her face, one that is usually suited for Sunday morning playing around with children by the old tree, when no wars are being raged.

* * *

After the battle, Arya was approached by Tyene Sand with a blush on her face, an emotion that she was surprised to find Tyene was capable of.

" _Aria_ … For many days in my life I have looked for a woman who is fierce and strong… And today I have found one… You are more fierce and strong than my sisters and with that you have captured my heart…  _Aria, I love you_."

Taken aback by the The Dornish girl's profession of love, Arya desperately searched for an excuse. She liked Tyene for who she was, but she had never thought of her in that way. She didn't think of anyone that way at all. Her thoughts were always based around her list and revenge, never about love or sexuality.

"Tyene, I… I cannot… I cannot accept this… I'm sorry but I have a lot to do now… I still have to kill the Red Woman, and a few others and… and I have to get back to my family… My brothers and… my sister… yes, her too… I have to check up on them, keep them safe during the war... the war with the white-walkers… I have to go… home." She trailed off as she realised that her excuse was actually the truth, something she had buried deep inside her for a while. Her mind flashed to the time she refused  _a man's_  offer after he helped her escape from Harrenhal.

"That is one of the many things I love about you, Aria…" She pulled Arya in for a deep kiss. "Now go home my Aria… Don't let yourself be killed… Always remember that I will always be waiting for you." Tyene walked back to the horses waiting for her, leaving Arya in a dazed state to gather her thoughts.

Weeks after leaving King's Landing, she finds herself standing in front of the gates of Winterfell, white Stark banners dancing in the winter winds. The snow was too strong for her horse and she had to sell him at a stable a day's march behind her, so she was standing with her boots half a foot deep in the cold snow. She announced to the guardsmen along the walls of the castle that she wanted to see Sansa Stark, the Queen in the North and Lady of Winterfell. Sansa had no spouse and was ruling the north alone, which surprised Arya as Sansa had always dreamed of being the Lady to a Lord, by marriage.

Arya had a lot of time to think and consider her situation with Tyene, and spent many nights awake atop the branch of a tree thinking about her, before finally giving it up as a bridge she would cross when and if ever she meets Tyene again. She did know that she was attracted to the bronze skinned girl from farther south.

"Who're yo'?"

"Tell her my name is Arya."

The guardsmen didn't recognise her, even without her disguise. She realised that they weren't Stark men, nor were they from the North, they looked like what her books described as wildlings. Maybe they were, Arya didn't bother. She was shivering as she was both underdressed and unaccustomed to the snowy weather she hadn't come across since she left with her father all those years ago.

When the gates opened, she was escorted to the main room of Winterfell, what used to be her parents room. She received one or two stares from northerners but they didn't recognise her either, she never did travel with her father to the northern lands, spending most of her time sparring or at Archery.

Arya walked in to find Sansa dressed in a black fur cloak facing the fireplace, the harsh look on her face initially seeming out of place, but then she realised that somehow they fit together. Sansa turned around to face her.

"Yesss…" Sansa trailed off as she realised exactly who showed up at her door.

"Hello sister…"

"Arya… is that really you?" Sansa crossed the room as fast as she could hugged her sister tightly in her arms. She couldn't believe that her sister was still alive, Brienne wasn't lying when she said she had seen her near the Eyrie. Arya was still alive.

Arya hugged back, knowing the magnitude of surprise she was giving her sister. This wasn't the time for silly sibling rivalries, if those even existed at this point.

"Yes it is me stupid…" Sansa let out a muffled laugh into the younger girl's shoulder.

"What… How… Where have you been? None of us except Brienne have heard from you since… since father…"

"I've been around… Harrenhal, Riverrun, the Eyrie, Braavos, Riverrun again, King's Landing again and then I've come here.

"How?"

"I was Tywin Lannister's cupbearer when his men took us prisoner from our way to Castle black after… father. Then I was taken by the brotherhood and then by the Hound to be given to my mother in Riverrun… We reached there just as mother and Robb were… Then the Hound took me to the Eyrie but it turns out that Aunt Lysa had died 3 days before I had arrived there."

"I was there at the Eyrie when that happened… Why didn't you cross the bloody gate? We would have met up…"

"I didn't know you would be there… After that I travelled across the Narrow Sea to Braavos, where I trained to become a faceless person, then I came back, killed Walder Frey, went to King's Landing, killed the Mountain and here I am after Cersei's death… I got to see her die, I saw Jaime put his sword through her chest."

"I got to see Joffrey killed at his wedding… I was suspected for the murder and I killed Ramsay with his own dogs…"

The two sisters reminisced on the stories they've been through… Arya showed Sansa the teachings of the House of Black and White while Sansa told her of what she had learnt from Littlefinger and Ramsey Bolton. They talked late into the night before Arya met up with Bran and exchanged stories with him… That night, just before Arya and Sansa went to sleep on their bed, Sansa kissed her forehead and gave her a small hug.

"Arya… Welcome Home…" Arya couldn't stop the smile that grazed her face.


	3. Tyrion

Winter is finally here, and Tyrion Lannister wasn't liking it at all. The cold winds blowing in from the north were making him shiver down below and he didn't need that now as he couldn't heat it up in some prostitute's love haven. He just couldn't do that anymore, not after  _her._

"What are you doing all the way out here?"

He turned around to find the young Stark girl staring at him. She had grown quite a lot since the last time he had properly seen her. Of course the last two times he had actually seen her was at the war in King's Landing, the first while fighting the Mountain and the other when she explained to Queen Daenerys about what happened in the Throne Room. He thought that if ever there was a Goddess of Death, she would probably look like the girl in front of him.

"Just remembering stuff."

"What stuff?" Arya's opinion of  _The Imp_ had changed drastically since she had arrived at Winterfell, mostly because of Sansa's stories. She had learnt to actually believe what her sister says as it is now. The experiences Sansa had gone through had caused her to lose what Arya inwardly referred to as Sansa vision.

"About the last time I was here in Winterfell, about the situation further up north, but mostly about how to keep my balls from freezing." Tyrion was slightly against referring to his balls in front of a little girl, but her laughing face set aside his hesitation.

"You're funny."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"It was meant to be one."

"Then I really appreciate that."

Tyrion found it interesting that a girl he called a Goddess of Death mere moments ago could be so lively when she wanted to.

"You know, I've heard things about you… Like how you respected my sister and about… about the Battle of the Blackwater, Joffrey, and Tywin Lannister."

"For a little girl you really like to associate yourself with death." Tyrion reached down and took his flask from the ground. If they were talking about this, then he would definitely need a drink.

"No, not death… Only revenge." Her voice turned very serious.

"And how is that plan coming along?"

"I have a list."

"I've heard about that."

"How do you know about the list? Most of the people who know about it are dead." Arya was genuinely curious as to how he found out about her list.

"It's what I do girl. I drink and I know things." Tyrion raised his flask. "Anyways, going back to what we were talking about, how is your list coming along?"

"I only have a few more names on it, for now. Though I'm more than a little disappointed as to how it has progressed until now. I've managed to kill only less than half of them. At the very least, I wanted to see them die." Tyrion raised an eyebrow at this. "And I don't really like that you took two of the biggest names on my list, Tywin and Joffrey."

"I did not kill Joffrey."

"According to what I heard, you were his cupbearer and you poisoned his cup." Tyrion was a irritated at where this conversation was headed.

"I was the cupbearer, I poured wine from the wine jar to his cup and handed it to him. He left it lying around and then picked it up later to drink it."

"I believe that you didn't poison him, but only based on what Sansa told me. But more importantly, how did his face look when he died. Where did he first start to bleed? And did he choke or vomit? Did any other part of his body bleed or just his face?"

Tyrion raised both his eyebrows. He couldn't believe what she was asking him. And he was worried earlier about talking about cold balls. "Why do you want to talk about his face when he died? Are you going to imagine that somewhere?"

"It would help me sleep better at night."

Tyrion couldn't help himself, the flask just slid right out of his hand, though the rest of his body stayed frozen in the exact same place.

"What has this world turned you into?"

"A girl whose list you should pray you never find your name on."

"I would drink to that but my liquor has escaped me." He stared at the empty flask and the purple stains of wine on the white snow.

"I also wanted to see Tywin die, though a lot lesser than Joffrey."

"Why such the difference? And in favour of  _that man_  too? He was the reason behind the Red Wedding, I hope you know that." Tyrion was beyond sympathy for the girl, she was obviously unfazed by all this. He was more perplexed that she didn't want to see Tywin die as much as Joffrey.

"Tywin Lannister had a purpose for doing what he did. Joffrey was just an egotistical prat who was given too much too fast. Tywin died because he let himself fail miserably at one thing to succeed at all the others." Tyrion realised the girl was far smarter than anyone ever gave her credit for. He now knew how she had survived without help from almost anyone who recognised her.

"How would the missing Stark girl who has never met Tywin Lannister know so much about him?"

"That is not true, I met him. I was his cupbearer at Harrenhal for a while before he marched on my brother Robb. When he left for battle, I escaped from the place."

Recognition dawned his face. "So you were his missing cupbearer… Interesting." It surely was.

"And I would have been his murderer too… But here I am, standing with his killer. Do tell me about his death sometime. Unlike Joffrey, you are the only one to have seen his face as he died. But now, we have to head back inside, I can see Sansa coming for us out here. It was nice talking to you, Brother-in-law." Arya turned around and walked back to meet Sansa halfway as Tyrion slipped off the rock he was sitting on, picked up his flask and followed her.

He was regretting his earlier hesitation against his Queen's orders to visit Winterfell before she arrived. This unlikely conversation with a girl he barely knew before, and not at all at the moment made this entire trip worth it. Even his frozen blue balls.


	4. Jon

Arya walked through the gates of Castle Black in disguise, her flowing blonde hair reminded her of a certain dead Queen and his brothers, the youngest of which she found, was pretty entertaining for such a small fellow. She had come across a saying on a scroll one time while she was still in Braavos. It said that many great things come in small packages.

Arya noticed her half-brother-turned-cousin Jon Targaryen standing next to a bunch of newcomers to the Night's Watch. Since the battle of King's Landing had ended and Daenerys had become the new queen, each and every one of the Houses in Westeros have been obligated to send some of their men to fight against the White Walkers and the Wights at the wall. Castle Black and all the other Castles along the wall were now filled to the brim with men training to fight. She was here as part of the men from House Stark. And the best part is that Jon doesn't know about her even being in Winterfell, of course that was Arya's request to Sansa and Bran because she would meet him here soon enough.

"Men, you may have fought in the wars down south, or you may have been just a man working as a blacksmith, a fisherman, a huntsman or even a criminal… But it don't mean nothing to the dead. To them, you are just another slice of chicken for their never ending stomach. So I'm going to teach you how to fight against the dead." Jon walked back and forth in front of them as he explained. "You lot might think they are mindless idiots who just attack you whenever they can, and most of them are like that but some of them are not, and I'm teaching you to fight those few. And remember, if you think you are going to die, set yourself on fire. We don't want you coming back for us. Now, I'm going to demonstrate a full battle with swords, any volunteers."

Arya had walked over to the men while Jon was explaining, all along some of the men were ogling her up and down. Puberty had struck her over the past few months and that had caused her to turn more than a few heads as she was pretty like a highborn woman (which she is) and looked like a man ready to kill (woman, and again she is). And her blonde hair only turned a few more heads her way. When he asked for volunteers, her hand was the only one to soar as the few who could fight were still staring her way and the rest were cowards.

Arya picked up a training sword and stood in front of Jon, her wooden sword pointed straight at his face while she stood sideface. Her eyes trained on Jon's face for just a few seconds before she lunged at him. Jon quickly sidestepped as Arya smiled at him, but there was a seriousness in her eyes that told him she wasn't just some random girl trying out a sword, she definitely knew how to fight.

Jon swung his sword at her shoulder, which she blocked easily and then countered with a lunge to his feet. He brought his sword down to stop it and pushed her away. They paused for a second before getting right into it.

Swing, Parry, Reverse, Dodge, Block. These actions were repeated in quick succession, and the order changed every time. The two went after each other again and again, the wooden swords being the only reminder to the audience that they weren't actually trying to kill each other. Suddenly Arya hopped back and turned her back to him as she was trying to run. Jon regarded this as his chance and lunged at her with his sword, only for it to be uprooted from his hands. A large number of things happened in the next few seconds. His sword crashed onto the floor as he felt a sharp object against his abdomen, something flew into the air and the wooden sword pointed at his neck. He turned his eyes down to find a very skinny sword pointed at him, a very familiar skinny sword.

Realisation dawned in his face as he turned to the girl's face as she shouted out to the people standing around watching them.

"First Lesson – Stick 'em with the Pointy End…" Arya's smile widened to the bottom of her ears as her eyes watered up. She dropped both her swords and jumped into his surprised arms and put hers around his neck, tears freely streaming down her white cheeks.

"Arya… But… I… I was…" Arya pulled back.

"Oh, you mean this…" She picked up the mask from the floor and put it back on, adjusting her hair to look like the blonde girl who was just fighting Jon. Giving him a smile, she took it off again and put it in her bag before turning back to Jon.

"I worked at it… I worked every day since the day I left, even when I didn't have it. And now I'm better than you… So you better catch up to me." She packed her stuff before walking back to him. "Come on, I'll tell you more about it inside."

* * *

She led him back to his room where they spent the rest of the evening telling each other their story. Jon was listening more than telling her because she already heard of everything from Sansa. Arya briefly thought about the role change of Sansa in her life, from annoying elder sister to news raven and revenge partner. But she quickly set her thoughts aside as she rekindled her relationship with Jon. He was her closest sibling and after all this time he still is, nothing has changed about that, or him for that matter, except his love life and accent. Arya was pleased to hear about his experiences.

Jon on the other hand, was extremely enraged about how the world has changed her character. When he left her, she was just a little girl who wanted to learn how to sword fight and become a knight. Now she has turned into a girl who lusts after revenge, sleeps to people's deaths and prays after murder. Her descriptions of carving Walder Frey's sons, poking something Trant's eyes out, poking holes in the Mountains flesh, with a bright smile on her did nothing to soothe his anger. For turning an innocent girl into this, he would never forgive the world and he promised himself that he would bring the regular Arya back once this war is over. He would have sworn to protect her during the fight as well, but he could see that she wasn't even trying to fight during their little sparring match back there.

"Jon…"

Jon turned his face back to her. "Yeah…"

"I missed you…"

Jon smiled as he reinforced his promise once again in his mind.

"Yeah, I missed you too…"

She kissed him on the cheek once again before pulling back. "Do you know, a girl confessed to me before I left King's Landing?"

Needless to say Jon's big brother instinct kicked in once again, though not before he got over his surprise.


	5. Tywin

Arya watched from afar as Tyene interacted with a warrior maid in nearly fluent Samyrian. The two had begun travelling together after the War beyond the Wall had ended and over the past two years, grown very close together, romantically and otherwise. Arya felt her heart twinge just a little as the two women seemed to share a laugh.

Arya attempted to divert her attention away from her lover and the offending ruby-cheeked woman by polishing her sword. Even though it has been nearly a decade since she had first received Needle from Jon, she still preferred it over any others she might have come across in the past few years. Her adventures and her training had served her well, bringing some muscle to her formerly skinny form, but she was still just as quick as she used to be, so Needle suited her perfectly. Also, it was her only remainder of Jon, who died fighting the White Walker King.

"Aria, Roehra says we can stay with her for the night. Take your things."

Arya carefully cleaned off the last of the blood from her sword and slid it bad into her belt. "Have you finished your dalliance with the maid… or are you going to analyze her nipple rings again tonight?"

Tyene shot Arya a glare before she broke out into a knowing smile. "My little stark girl is jealous." The Dornish woman slid her arms around her lover's neck from behind. She whispered into Arya's left ear. "Roehra is very interested in Westeros. She has heard many stories about powerful women from Westeros, like the Mother of Dragons, or the Queen of the Pyke, or a very scary assassin rumored to be somewhere nearby, called the Goddess of Death."

"Oh…" Arya visibly blushed. "It's been nearly 3 months since the last time I… How did the news get so far out here?"

"Word travels much faster than we do, my lovely Aria. And you have nothing to fear, I have eyes only for you." Tyene planted a kiss on Arya's forehead and helped her to her feet.

The two followed the warrior maid, Roehra to her house that was just a small stone cave carved into the side of the mountain. Tired from their arduous journey through the Bone Mountains along the dangerous Stone Road, the two women laid down for the night.

* * *

Arya found herself in a room she recognized not from her own memory but from a detailed description of someone else's. In a dimly lit room illuminated only by a single torch, covered on all sides by the familiar stone walls of the Red Keep, Arya stood in front of a slowly dying Tywin Lannister, his hand clutching one of the arrow buried in his chest in a failing attempt to pull it out. A moment later he seemed to notice her standing in front of him.

"Ah, the cupbearer… I was searching for you… You have certainly grown since I have last seen you… But I do not understand how you are here."

Arya observed that she looked as old as she was supposed to be when Tywin died. "I'm dreaming right now. You are part of it."

"I suppose that explains it… So, what do you intend to do now? You have this betrayed, dying old fool as your audience."

After a moments contemplation.  _If this is a dream, then I might as well experience it._ "You are dying."

"Evidently."

"I will not save you."

"No, you will not."

"You have lived a long life. Do you have anything you regret?"

Tywin took a deep breath, clutching his hand to the arrow even tighter as the action hurt him. "I regret not spending enough time with Joanna. I spent a good deal of my time with politics and wars."

"You love her very much."

"Yes, I do."

"I would've liked to meet her."

"You would like her. And I'm sure, she would've liked you as well." The two fell back into their comfortable silence, disturbed only by Tywin's occasional gasp of pain. "I also regret not spending enough time with… with both of my children."

"Why? I was under the impression that you did not like them as much."

"Perhaps if I spent more time with them… if I hadn't taken Cersei for granted, she would be a better ruler. And if I took my time with Jaime, he could understand some of the mistakes he is mak-" The Lannister coughed roughly, splattering blood across the floor in front of him. "And… and you…"

Arya's eyebrows shot up at the mention of her. It seems to be happening quite often these days. "What about me?"

"I regret that we couldn't find you when we s-searched for you and… I wish you were my daughter."

Arya was rendered speechless by Tywin's words.

"You and I are very much a-alike… I had considered adopting you as a Lannister, b-but you escaped before that… You were one of the few who earned my respect… It is why I agreed indulge you in this c-conversation." Tywin started taking shorter breaths as the wound affected his body. "I know I've d-done s-some evil in this w-world, but you… I was p-proud… of you."

Arya could not believe what was happening in her own dream, even though she knew it was one. Was this just her desire?  _But it feels so real, unlike any other dream she's had._ But this cannot happen in real life, she's 23 years old, Tywin died over 8 years ago, and she's currently in Samyriana travelling to the easternmost edge of the Known World. How was this possible? What is going on?

"I-In return for t-this… J-Just tell this dying man o-one thing… What i-is your r-real name?"

Arya stood still and took a deep breath. "My name is Arya Stark. I'm sure you've heard of that name."

It was Tywin's turn to be surprised, but it only lasted for a few seconds before it devolved into a light smile.

And then the old Lannister fell back as the world dissolved around Arya, bringing her back to reality and the comfort of her lover's arms. She suddenly jerked awake as if she awoke from a nightmare, rousing the sleeping Dornish girl next to her in the process.

Arya quickly surveyed her surroundings, the same cave she remembered falling asleep in, and concluded that it was indeed just a dream, one that was just a tad realistic.

Tyene roped her arms around Arya and pulled her back down. "Sleep Aria, we have much to travel once dawn arrives. Do not worry, I will always be here for you."

Arya closed her eyes and recited her list once again, before letting the tiredness from before take over once again.

A few minutes later, Tyene mumbled to a sleeping Arya. "Sleep well, my beautiful Goddess of Death."

* * *

**The Red Keep. The morning after the death of Tywin Lannister over 8 years before Arya's dream.**

The guard proceeded carefully into the bath, alert after noticing the dead whore near Lord Tywin's bed. The guard let out a gasp and rushed to the bath to confirm what he suspected. What he feared turned out to be true as he noticed the dead body of Lord Tywin, clearly shot at twice in the chest with a crossbow. Oddly, he was smiling.


	6. Gendry

**The Disputed Lands. Four years since Arya assassinated Walder Frey. One month since the pair reached Essos.**

Tyene slowly creeped through the tall grass of the Disputed Lands, her eye trained on a cult of Thyroshi bandits armed with spears, drinking around a campfire. They were the next set of names offered to her beloved, in exchange for a reward. The bandits were wanted, dead or alive by the Magisters of Myr for stealing and murdering many of their glass merchants over the past few months.

The former Sand Snake shot a quick glance at her partner, who was perched behind a thirty-foot tall boulder nearby. Tyene had been surprised when Arya had first showed off her skill with a bow and arrow, being able to shoot accurately even while aiming straight up, and spending nearly no time at all to take her aim. Needless to say the Dornish woman only fell deeper in love with her coveted northerner.

At her lover's approval, Tyene charged headfirst into battle with her poisoned daggers. Arya shot multiple poisoned arrows into the air, aiming for the bandits further away from Tyene. Arya then charged into battle with her trusted Needle by her side.

The battle did not last for more than a few minutes. Bodies littered the campsite, the poison causing a faint foul scent in the air. Tyene had concocted this poison herself, using the essence of a rare flower that can only be found in the forest lands of Mossovy which she had obtained from a trader. The poison does not affect the skin but one touch to the tissues beneath causes the body to bleed rapidly in every way possible, killing them in mere seconds.

Tyene scoured around for any survivors. Suddenly something moved next to her in the bushes. Out of reflex, her hand moved in for the kill.

"WAIT!"

Tyene could barely stop herself from slaughtering the crouched man in front of her, managing to move her hand away just in time. Why had Arya suddenly ordered her to stop?

"Gendry… Is that you?"

The man slowly lifted his head to lock eyes with the speaker. "Arya?"

"Gendry." Arya ran towards him and leapt into his arms as he stood up. The long-lost friends embraced each other. "How… Where have you been? What are you doing here? Why are you with these… these bandits?"

"I was taken to Stannis Baratheon, apparently he is my father's brother. The Red Woman tried to kill me, but someone helped me escape by a boat. I rowed my way through the narrow sea and somehow got too close to a Thyroshi ship. From there I was taken and sold into slavery, to be bought by my master, Roho Uhoris." The blacksmith pointed to one of the bandits lying on the floor with face down, a nasty cut across his back still trickling blood at a slow pace. "To think I almost ended up like him." Gendry chuckled at the thought.

"So, you aren't one of the bandits."

"No. I'm not one of those fucking bastards."

Arya let out a sigh of relief. As she turned around, she finally noticed her upset lover glaring holes through the blacksmith. Realising her mistake, she quickly pulled her girlfriend towards her by the arm, lacing her tanned and toned arm with her own pale and skinny one. The pair turned back to face Gendry.

"Tyene, this is Gendry. He was one of those with me on the way to Castle Black after Joffrey and my father… We escaped from Harrenhal together and then travelled for a while before Melisandre, the Red Woman took him as her captive. Gendry, this is Tyene Sand. Dornish Princess and one of the Sand Snakes… And my… girlfriend."

The three of them paused in an awkward silence.

"So, you finally decided to be a boy in the end, milad-… my liege."

Gendry started laughing as Arya swatted his shoulder.

"No, I'm a girl… I just fell in love with another girl… And don't call me either of those. I'm the one with the sword here."

"I saw you have learnt how to use it."

"Yes, Aria is one of the best I have seen with a sword." Arya's cheeks tinted pink.

"Wow. I never imagined you would get such a compliment at such a young age." Arya's blush only turned redder as Gendry mentioned this.

The three spent some more time chatting as they ate some of the bandits' food together. They had to let the corpses' blood dry to not risk poisoning themselves before they could take the bodies back to the Magistrates of Myr to collect their reward. Tyene was reluctant to talk to Gendry at first, mostly because she was jealous of the history the two shared. But as time passed, she realised they were more like siblings than lovers. She grew to like him better as one more of Arya's brothers.

* * *

Afterwards Gendry travelled with them to the gates of Myr, pulling a cart carrying the remains of the leaders of the gang and the stolen glass merchandise present in the camp at that time.

The pair parted ways with Gendry as he sought to move elsewhere with a lot of his old masters' stolen cash, with the intention of setting up a small blacksmith shop somewhere. After collecting their reward, Arya and Tyene set off their journey to their next destination, Valysar.


End file.
